Do You Still Love Me?
by pending-eternity
Summary: Dimitri was never turned into a Strigoi, Rose was. What happens when she returns to Montana and sees Dimitri again?
1. Chapter 1

Somewhere between the Strigoi attacking the school and them retreating to safety i was attacked and turned. I don't know who by, I'm still assuming it was Evan, that bastard, but no one will tell me. At first i tried to stop them, but as soon as their sweet sharp teeth broke into the skin on my supple neck, i knew it was the right thing to do. They "killed me", or so most people say, but they only say that because they can't understand how amazing this feels. The world is so much more beautiful through my prefect eyes and it's something i wish i could share with Dimitri, but i don't know how i would react if i saw him. I'm obviously a lot stronger than him and could easily kill him, and by kill him i don't mean turn him, i mean i could rip his head off his neck and crack it open like an egg. After I was turned I followed the other Strigoi back to New Mexico where we now live. It's been 6 months since the "attack", but i swear, my life's only just started.

I lay on the bed of my room, researching a Strigoi named Jacob Lamb for Natalie, who is our leader. Apparently this guy's been killing other Strigoi for amusement and Natalie wants him to be brought back here so we can kill him. "Rose? Have you found out where he is yet?" Natalie asks for the fifth time. "One second, Natalie, i mean unless _you _want to find him. There's literally seven Jacob Lamb's and no one has told me any distinct features he has or even which area he might be in. But please, if you can do better, go ahead", i push my laptop toward her avoiding eye contact. "Just hurry up", she tells me and leaves my room. I eventually find him but before the jumping up and down of excitement begins, I realise that he is located in Montana. How can I go back there? What if I see Lissa or Edie? I know I'm meant to not care about them, but they're still good people, even if I want to suck on their necks until I drain the life out of them. But more importantly, what if I see Dimitri and he doesn't want me anymore or is with Tasha or some other Mori slut. That would kind of make the whole turning him and being alive together forever thing awkward. "Natalie!" I call out. Even though she may be on the other side of the house, she would be able to hear me. She appears at my door almost instantly. "I found him, he's in Montana". A smile creeps onto her face and I know that she realises that this is an awkward situation for me. "Well, this should be fun for you then. Pack your things, you, Evan, Jessica and Kira are leaving tonight", she says calmly. I hate when she's acts like this, as if she knows everything and is so tough, when in reality, I think everyone here knows I could take her down. For the sake of my sanity and reputation, I try and act as if it doesn't bother me. "Sure, we'll see you in a few days then", I smile and tell her. She must believe me because she turn and walks away without another remark. I lie down on my bed and stretch my arms and legs out, "This is going to suck ass", I say to myself.

As soon as it gets dark our team leaves for Montana. It's going to take about two days to get there because we have to take in account feeding and staying out of the sun. We take Jessica's Ute so we have space to bring Jacob back with us and so if we need to, we can keeps a few snacks in the boot. "Woo! Road trip baby!" Evan yells once we get on the road.

"Evan, you're a tool, shut up", Kira moans.

"Seriously Kira, we haven't even gotten through the first set of lights. If I turn around I can literally still see the house, would you stop complaining", Evan tells her.

"You're the one screaming in my ear, I was just telling you to be quite". I put my head phones in and let their voices muffle in the background. I don't know how we're going to get through two day of this. I turn around and look out the back window, Evan was right, you can still see our house from where we are.

I must have dosed off because when I wake up it's almost morning and we're stopping at a small hotel. I grab my bag from the back and go to check in with Jessica. "So are you excited to go back to Montana?" She asks. I open the door to the entrance and walk up to the receptionist.

"Hi girls were you just after a room for the two of you?" the receptionist asks. She's a woman, probably around 30 but the hideous shirt she's wearing makes her look 40. "Actually we need a room for four", I tell her.

"Of course", she types into her computer and then hands up a key with the number 17 on it, "here you go, it's just on the second floor".

We grab our bags and walk into the elevator. "Well, are you"? Jessica asks me.

"Am I what"? I say, even though I know what she's referring to.

"Are you excited to go back to Montana? You could kill a few or those mori who gave you a tough time". I drop my bag and turn to her.

"Hey, I never said mori gave me a tough time".

"You were a dhampir, or course they gave you a hard time", she laughs.

"Whatever, and no, I'm not really looking forward to seeing people I know". The elevator door opens to the second floor so I pick up my bag and look for room 17. "Ok, suit yourself", she tells me and i relax because I know this conversation is over.


	2. Chapter 2

Dimitri's POV

She's in my arms, I'm holding onto her so tight. Please don't go, I love you so much. She's slipping away from me, slowly at first, then all at once. I'm so sorry I can't hold you any longer Rose, I'm sorry I lost you. My body jumps and my arms clutch my body as I wake up. I always have the same dream, of me losing her and it's permanently my fault because I can never hold onto her tight enough and I can never save her. I have to keep reliving that moment I let her go. I crawl out of bed and walk into the bathroom to wash my face with cold water. It wakes me up straight away, which helps knowing I'm not going to have to live through another endless nightmare today, oh no wait, I am. I dry my face and look at my reflection in the mirror. My skin is pale and I have bags under my eyes from countless sleeps of nights. My face looks tortured and beaten, as if I've been in a brutal fight; months of suffering from malnutrition will do that to you. There's also scratches covering my arms and stomach from when I've been dreaming about trying to grab her back from the darkness, I guess in my sleep I claw at myself. I just keep seeing her face when they grabbed her, she was so scared. I tried so hard to get to her faster but before I could reach her, they dug their teeth into her and I knew she was gone. I'll never have my beautiful Rosa in arms again.

I get a pair of pants and an old shirt out of my cupboard and get changed. I've been helping with the dhampir's training because of the decrease in guardians after the attack, that and they don't believe I'm stable enough to guard the perimeters anymore. They think it's because I was close to a lot of the guardians who were killed, and I'm not in any state to say otherwise. I pick up my phone and leave for the gymnasium. The halls are mostly empty, just a few guardians and dhampir roaming. I walk silently past them until I hear something fall from in one of the rooms. I follow my instincts and quickly slam the door open. A small Mori sits with her head in her hands crying and shaking uncontrollably. Beside her, pieces of what once was a T.V lay on the floor.

"Are you ok, Lissa?" I ask her. She looks up at me with her broken bloodshot eyes, her usual pale face is red and damp from her tears and her body is twisted in ways that seem impossible. "What do you think Dimitri? I lost Rose. She was my best friend. I cared about her more than my own family and now I have no one." I hate that she's in pain, I know how much she and Rose loved each other, but she's gone now, and it's entirely my fault. "I'm so sorry Lissa," it's not much, but it's all I'm able to say. I leave her on the floor and silently walk out of the room before I say anything else. She along with the academy still has no idea about Rose's and my relationship. I want to sit with Lissa and hold her while she cries and tell her how much I loved Rose too. I want her to know that someone other than herself saw how amazing Rose was, but that's not possible right now.

When I get there, the gymnasium is still empty. I look at my watch and realise that I still have another 45 minutes until class actually starts. I take shirt off and start to do push ups, sit ups and crunches while I wait. The only time I'm remotely at piece is when I'm exercising. I usually run when the students are asleep so I can be swallowed and enveloped by peace. When it's that late and it's just me and the cool air, I feel like I used when I was mentoring Rose. She always complained about how often I made her run, and being honest, that's probably why I made her do it so much. We'd fight about it every day for 10 minutes; she'd tell me she's already a professional runner and how she wants to actually fight, but it always ended the same way, me making her run, and her calling me comrade.

"Where'd you get thoughs scratches from?" I hear from behind me. I look over my shoulder and see a tall Mori woman who is more or less into her mid-twenties, standing in the doorway. Her long auburn hair sweeps over her prominent collar bones and rests against her chest. She has a round face that reminds me of a strawberry and her dense pink lips are in a permanent pout. I may actually find her pretty if I wasn't so mentally unstable. "Was it from your girlfriend?" She leans on the back wall and winks at me. I laugh and shake my head. "No, I think I'm getting overheated at night and scratching myself". That was a terrible lie. She walks towards me and flashes her smile. "Well I'm Jordan", she reaches out her hand and I shake it, "it's nice to meet you".

"I'm Dimitri Belikov, I'm a guardian here".

"Oh, I was going to say, you look a little," she glances up and down my body, "more mature then the other students". She's still standing above me smiling. I don't know whether to get up or keep doing crunches. I make a quick decision and get up. I grab my shirt and wipe myself with it, "Well, I've got to teach a class soon, but it was nice to meet you." I nod at her and start to walk away.

"Wait, sorry, but do you think you could show me around. It's a big school and I've never been here before", she tells me.

"Of course, are you here for family or-",

"Yeah, my sister's a student here I'm just visiting, but she refuses to show me around or even be seen with me for that matter", she interrupts me. I realise that in the time that she's been in here, her eyes haven't moved from mine. "Ok, well maybe when the class is finished I could give you a tour," I say composedly. She smiles and begins to walk past me.

"Well, thank you so much Guardian Belikov," she says flirtatiously and strides out of the gym.

I think it's safe to say I have no idea what I've gotten myself into.


End file.
